Drug addiction & Substance Abuse Disorder

Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behaviour and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. Drug addiction can start with experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and, for some people, the drug use becomes more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids, drug addiction begins when they take prescribed medicines or receive them from others who have prescriptions. The risk of addiction and how fast you become addicted varies by drug. As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it's increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill. These are called withdrawal symptoms.

How do we help

As part of a treatment plan, behavior therapy, a form of psychotherapy is done wherein we provide counselling to:-

Help you develop ways to cope with your drug cravings

Suggest strategies to avoid drugs and prevent relapse

Offer suggestions on how to deal with a relapse if it occurs

Talk about issues regarding your job, legal problems, and relationships with family and friends

Include family members to help them develop better communication skills and be supportive

Address other mental health conditions

People struggling with addiction usually deny they have a problem and hesitate to seek treatment. An intervention presents a loved one with a structured opportunity to make changes before things get even worse and can motivate someone to seek or accept help. It's important to plan an intervention carefully. It may be done by family and friends in consultation with a health care provider or mental health professional. It involves family and friends and sometimes co-workers, who care about the person struggling with addiction.
During the intervention, these people gather together to have a direct, heart-to-heart conversation with the person about the consequences of addiction. Then they ask the person to accept treatment.